Myles's massive goals + Log

[Myles]

Hello everyone!

Feel free to comment, bitch at me, encourage me. :P

I am a 29 year-old male. Five years ago, used to bench 435 x 5 x 5 with an elastic band. I'd like to beat that in the next year. Right now I am not as strong as I used to be.
I finished up my linear progression a few months ago around late may. Was doing: 335x5x3 deadlift, 315x5x3 bench and didn't start doing presses until I started the Texas method about June 8th. At that time, I did 370x5x3, (was too tired to do all five reps back then), 335x5x5 bench, 175x5x5 overhead press. I don't squat, since I don't have a squat rack. Just a bench which is too low and cumbersome to even pick up 225 lbs for squat.

Stats:
Male, 29, 5'10", 193 or so.

My main training goal is to reach the following by June 2021. Call me crazy if you like.
Deadlift 625 x 5
Bench 445 x 5
Press 315 x 5

I'll put today's logs:

August 1st

Bench press
345 x 3 too heavy and I couldn't do more than three.
335 x 4
325 x 5
325 x 5
325 x 5
325 x 5
315 x 5
315 x 5
305 x 5
305 x 5
305 x 5
295 x 5
275 x 5

Deadlift
410 x 5
410 x 5
410 x 4
395 x 5
After this I tried 365, which I used for warm up, and I could not lift it, so I decided to call it a day.

Notes:
I used to have to use straps and alternate during my linear progression, until I bought gym chalk. Grip is now stronger, and already going over 400 lbs with no grip issues.
I usually take at least 10 or 20 or 30 plus minutes break during each set. Working out from home. Between sets I'll do work on the computer, go to the store come back and do another set. Some sets occasionally have 40 minutes or an hour twenty minutes in between if I get caught up doing some sort of chores, cutting the lawn or whatever else is going on.
I work out alone, if I fail on a bench, then I just put it on my stomach and roll it off my legs. Back when I did 435 x 5, never had a spotter or needed one either.
I bent my bar, so it's a buffalo bar. All weights fall off without cuffs, so all lifts are with cuffs.

[Myles]

August 4th
Freaking exhausted from bench press workout from days ago, so really dropped the weight dramatically.
170 x 4
165 x 5
160 x 5
160 x 5
160 x 2
Hella tired, dropped the weight
140 x 5


August 8th
Notes: Never do a workout without a warmup.
315x5
340 x 2 335 x 1
335 x 1 320 x 3
320 x 3
315 x 5

Deadlift
405 x 5
495 x 5
385 x 5

August 15th
Bench
335 x 3
325 x 4
320 x 4
320 x 4
315 x 4

August 16th

Deadlift
418 x 5
410 x 3 (headphones fell off), so I didn’t finish that set lol
418 x 5
410 x 3 failed to get a fourth

[Myles]

August 17th
Overhead press (Was hecka tired from bench press from the previous session, so the weight was definitely light)
170 x 5
180 x 2
170 x 3
160 x 3
155 x 3

August 18th
Deadlift (Lower back was still sore from the deadlift on the 16th; but weight came off the floor as if I had been off for a week; maybe I'll train deadlift more often)
425 x 5 PR
405 x 5
365 x 5

[Myles]

Status Update:
So far have gained about 10 lbs, so now I am about 205~ since I last weighed myself a few weeks ago.
Shirts and underwear are ripping like crazy, have had to get new pairs of pants and new dress shirts. All old pairs no longer fit. Went from a M or L to an XL or XXL.
Here's a photo from June or July. I'll update progress pics that are current soon.

unnamed.jpg

Dec 24th
Overhead Press
190 x 5
190 x 4
185 x 4
180 x 4
180 x 4

Dec 26th
Bench Press
335 x 5
330 x 5
325 x 5
325 x 5
325 x 5
330 x 5

Dec 27th
Dead Lift
410 x 5
405 x 5
400 x 5
395 x 5
400 x 5

[Myles]

Dec 30th
Bench Press
335 x 5
340 x 5
345 x 5
345 x 4
340 x 4

[Myles]

Jan 29th
Dead Lift
420 x 5
420 x 5
420 x 5
420 x 5
420 x 4

Press
195 x 5
200 x 5
200 x 2
195 x 3
185 x 2

[Myles]

March 17th
Bench Press
355 x 5
355 x 5
355 x 5
355 x 5
355 x 5

Dead lift
440 x 5
440 x 5
440 x 5
440 x 5
440 x 4

Standing Press
210 x 4
210 x 4
210 x 4
210 x 4
210 x 4

[J. Killmond]

Hi Myles!

It would be best to find a place to squat, now that gyms are open around here.

It appears that you are doing sets-across for deadlift. In the words of Coach Rippetoe, "There is no version of the Texas Method that calls for sets-across deadlifts."

Deadlift Intermediate

Since you are strong and young, you have survived what you're doing, but recovery may have been compromised. Better recovery hopefully would mean quicker progress toward your DL 625x5 goal.

If I'm understanding your log correctly, on August 1, you did DL 410x5x2 (plus 410x4 and some other heavy DL reps). On March 17, you did (almost) DL 440x5x5.

A more "traditional" approach to Texas method would be to do a volume day and an intensity day each week, with PR's being set every week on intensity day. See Practical Programming, p. 113-144.

For deadlifts, the intensity day is a single set of 5 deadlifts--hopefully, a 5 rep PR every week. As the numbers go up, triples, doubles and singles come in. (The pull for volume day is power cleans, not deadlifts.)

With this approach, it seems likely that your PR of DL 425x5 on August 18, would have been DL 440x5 PR three weeks later in September. Where you'd be now is uncertain, but again it seems likely that someone who can (almost) do DL 440x5x5, would have good results from switching to a more typical approach to the Texas method.

That said, not squatting seems likely to impede progress.